Retail sales in Great Britain recover in April

12:09 24.05.2018

Retail sales in the United Kingdom got back to surge in April, reviving from unusually bad weather in March. Undoubtedly, that’s a positive signal for the UK economy after a series of poor data for the last months.

Retail sales gained up to 1.6% in April compared with March, as the National Statistics Office informed on Thursday, with surge in all sectors, except department stores. Moreover, sales of gasoline also rallied after the cold March weather affected the trips.

These figures managed to surpass the expectations of market experts, who forecast a jump of 0.7% per month.

Reading in April actually indicates a recovery in the retail sector after sales in the first quarter of 2018 dipped by about 0.5% compared to the last three months of the previous year.

However, over a longer period, the growth in retail sales has speeded down considerably and the surge in sales of food, household goods as well as online stores is largely compensated by a dive in all other types of retail trade, as some financial analysts pointed out.

Thursday's figures turned to be a bright spot among the data of the second quarter, which until now were quite mixed. Additionally, data on consumer price inflation for April, released on Wednesday, demonstrated the slowest growth in more than a year.

It’s highly anticipated that the economy of the United Kingdom is going to lag behind its counterparts this year because uncertainty about the conditions of its future relations with the European Union affects the activity and investment.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney as well as several other officials on Tuesday told lawmakers that Britain’s key financial institution could have rates lifted a few months, after the stakes were the same at their previous gathering.